Investments

Freddie Mac produced modest second-quarter results, reflecting a stabilizing business that CEO Donald Layton compared to a utility company.

Recent documentation tweaks that afford "excessive amounts of flexibility" to CLO managers can introduce "material, and even unquantifiable, risks" into transactions, according to the rating agency.

The Chicago-based corporate small-business lender and CLO management firm also reduced the cost in subordinate notes as it chose to maintain the existing reinvestment and maturity periods limiting the deal's shelf life.

Nonbank mortgage-backed securities servicers increase their exposure to agency loans as the housing market distances itself from last decade's crash, according to Fitch Ratings.

The triple-A rated senior tranche of Ares European CLO X has a coupon of 85 basis points above Euribor, an indication that a four-month widening trend in Europe CLO spreads continues; the deal is expected to close in September.

The transaction, Shelter Growth CRE 2018-FL1, is backed by 22 properties with a total balance of $415.1 million; it is static, meaning the only new loans to be added to the trust will be "companion” interest in loans secured by existing assets.

The New York State Supreme Court has ruled that Sound Point is within its rights to enforce a 90-day noncompete agreement with a manager who joined GoldenTree two weeks after his resignation.

Oaktown Re II is National Mortgage Insurance's first rated transaction, according to Morningstar; it reinsures $5.47 billion of policies on mortgages with a total balance of $30.12 billion.

That's a departure from the firm's existing fund, which acquires controlling stakes in CLOs through "equity" holdings; the new fund will be advised by the same principals, Tom Majewski, Daniel W. Ko and Daniel M. Spinner.

Tikehau CLO IV B.V. will control €400 million (UA$466.5 million) in mostly European leveraged loans and high-yield bonds (with an allowance for up to 25% of non-euro-denominated assets), according to Fitch Ratings.